


Ill-Fated

by thewishingdragon



Series: Word of the Day Stories [9]
Category: Heathers (1988), Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Post-Break Up, supportive friends martha and betty to the rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-03-24 20:22:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13818747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewishingdragon/pseuds/thewishingdragon
Summary: Apologies for the angst, but this was my prompt today, and now I've finished 3 of the 6 prompts I missed.Hopefully tomorrow's prompts will have a little less potential for angst.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies for the angst, but this was my prompt today, and now I've finished 3 of the 6 prompts I missed.
> 
> Hopefully tomorrow's prompts will have a little less potential for angst.

It wasn’t like they hadn’t  _ tried _ to make it work.

Veronica sighed, running a hand through her hair as she sat on the couch, processing everything that had just happened.

They tried, goddamnit.

The problem was, it seemed like that’s all they were doing. They spent more time trying to keep their relationship together than they had actually  _ being  _ in a relationship. They spent so much time trying to figure out how to stay together that they couldn’t  _ actually _ be together anymore.

Veronica wondered, distantly, if it was her fault. If maybe she should have tried harder. Maybe they could have stayed together.

Betty had once told Veronica “You spend way too much of your energy trying to make other people happy. Sometimes you just have to be a little selfish and put your needs first.” Veronica had scoffed, and that had been the end of it. Betty never really pushed Veronica towards her way of thinking, rather, she told it how she saw it, and left Veronica to decide what to do with that information.

If Betty were here, she’d tell Veronica how she’d done the right thing, how their relationship hadn’t been sustainable.

Martha would tell her it’s okay to be sad. She’d comfort her and they’d make hot cocoa and popcorn and watch shitty rom-coms until one of them started to doze off.

“People drift away from each other sometimes,” Martha had said once, when Veronica had asked if she was mad at Heather Duke when they stopped talking. “You can’t force people to stay.”

She never blamed herself for their friendship falling apart. Martha never pushed the fault onto herself, but she never put the blame on anyone else, either. Fate just hadn’t been in their favor.

Maybe that was all there was to this. Maybe neither of them were at fault. Maybe she and Heather just weren’t meant to be.

It had been exciting, at first. They’d steal away into some forgotten corner and hold each other close while they kissed, and then they’d face the world again as if nothing had happened between them at all. Or Heather would go to Veronica’s house and they’d enjoy being in the same space together away from prying eyes, without having to worry about being judged.

Veronica wasn’t going to ask Heather to out herself for the sake of their relationship. Veronica could understand Heather’s reluctance. Her parents were conservative, and cold, and probably wouldn’t take the news well if she told them, and the other kids at school were cruel enough without having something to latch onto. Coming out wasn’t exactly an option for her. Veronica understood.

But at the end of the day, Veronica also understood that, even after being together for a few months, she knew almost nothing about her. Veronica had been open and honest whenever they talked, but Heather never really shared anything about herself.

In the end, Heather Chandler wasn’t the kind of person who let others in, and Veronica wasn’t the type of person who could be in a relationship without some degree of emotional intimacy.

So they’d broken up earlier that afternoon. Veronica had apologized more than she probably should have, and Heather had said very little in response.

And now here she was, sitting alone on her couch trying not to cry. She’d been so sure they could make it. They’d tried so hard. That had to count for something, right?

Veronica sighed and picked up her phone, scrolling through her contacts and hitting the call button once she’d found the right one.

“Hey Martha. Do you think you and Betty could come over tonight? I… kinda broke up with this girl a few minutes ago and I could use a movie night to vent a little and decompress.”

Martha gasped. “Oh gosh! I’ll get some popcorn and call Betty!”

“Thanks.”

Veronica sighed once the call ended, tossing her phone onto the cushion next to her and jumping in surprise when, only a minute later, Betty’s ringtone started playing.

“You had a girlfriend?!” Betty yelled.

“Hello to you, too,” Veronica said drily.

“Who is she? Why’d you break up? Are you okay?”

“Okay, first of all, I’m not telling.”

Betty made a noise of understanding. “She’s in the closet?”

“Yeah. Second, I’ll be fine, and I’ll tell you all about  _ why _ we broke up once you get here.”

“Ugh  _ fine, _ I’m on my way to the store for hot cocoa.  _ Don’t _ tell Martha  _ anything _ until I get there.”

Veronica laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ll wait until you get here to start complaining.”

“Good.”

Veronica smiled as she heard the telltale sound of Betty hanging up.

Maybe she’d be okay.

She just hoped Heather would be alright, too.


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y'all asked for this, so here's Chandler's thoughts on the matter.

Heather had prepared for this.

She’d already known they weren’t going to last. Veronica was sweet and considerate and open, and Heather was none of those things. She was scared, and weak, and foolish. Which was why she’d prepared herself for the moment it all fell apart.

She just hadn’t expected it to hurt so much.

Veronica had tried so hard. Heather could never be mad at her for how much she had done to keep this from happening. She’d wanted them to last, and Heather had, too. Veronica had attempted to slip past her walls and establish a place in Heather’s heart, but Heather built them higher in response, never giving Veronica anything important. Never letting her close enough to hurt her.

She’d known that Veronica needed more. That she could give her more if she would just open up a little. But she’d spent too long waiting for a knife in her back to trust Veronica not to betray her. She was a mess of paranoia and anger that somehow hadn’t broken down yet.

They hadn’t stood a chance in hell.

So, Heather prepared. She guarded her heart and waited for everything to blow up in her face, and it did.

The problem was, now she had to deal with the fact that she’d broken Veronica’s heart.

The poor girl had nearly burst into tears halfway through her speech, and Heather ached to offer comfort, offer support, offer her damn heart, open and unguarded for her to take, if only to make Veronica stop looking at her like Heather was the one getting her heart broken.

But she couldn’t. That wasn’t something she could just  _ do, _ and Veronica seemed to have resigned herself to that fact.

That was the worst part of all. That she’d broken Veronica’s heart and Veronica had just accepted it like she’d known it was going to happen. Like she’d known that Heather couldn’t do what she needed her to.

But then, of course she had known. It had to have become obvious at some point, that they were either headed for a dead end or a cliff, and they could stop before they ran off the road or they could go off the edge and deal with the mess that followed.

She was glad that they’d avoided that, at least. No screaming matches or hateful words thrown in the heat of the moment.

She refused to hurt Veronica any more than she already had.

Which is why she stayed quiet when Veronica had broken up with her earlier that day, saying only what she had to and leaving as soon as it was over.

Now she sat at the edge of her bed, glaring at the photos and the messages on her phone. It was all there, recorded in pixels and strings of code, showcasing what was supposed to be a chance at happiness, a real relationship, something that she could keep.

Heather and Heather didn’t know. Couldn’t know. Duke was loyal to her only because she hadn’t yet figured out how to overthrow her. To give her any kind of leverage would be signing her own death warrant. McNamara wouldn’t do such a thing, Heather knew, but she was weak-willed enough to follow Duke’s example, and that was just as dangerous.

Her parents were out of the question. She knew what they thought of people like her, and she didn’t want to find out what they would do if they found out about any of this.

So that left her, alone. The only person she could talk to about this was Veronica, and there was no way in hell she was about to unload all of her issues on her now ex girlfriend. She’d have to do this on her own, and hope that Veronica didn’t hate her after this.

With a sigh, she fell back onto the mattress, clutching her phone like a lifeline, scrolling back through message logs and pictures trying to reclaim that sense of joy she’d felt when she had been able to call Veronica hers. Unable to hold on, but unwilling to let go.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment and let me know what you think! And don't hesitate to send me an ask on tumblr at shanes-scribbles!


End file.
